


You are not alone in this

by laura_pava



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Car Accident, Death, F/F, Friendship, Guilt, Hopeful Ending, Panic Attacks, Rivalry, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29760561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laura_pava/pseuds/laura_pava
Summary: Lizzie and Hope have been rivals for all their lives. Everything with them is always a competition.But when a shattering loss breaks Hope’s world, maybe Lizzie is just what she needs to survive.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Maya Machado & Hope Mikaelson, Penelope Park & Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody! In this period I haven't written anything because I had too much things to do and then, when finally the time came, of course I had no idea what to write. But then suddenly, something came up in my mind and I started this. It came out darker than I thought so if scenes like panic attacks or grieving can trigger you, please be careful.  
> Anyway, English is not my first language so if you read something absolutely crazy or meaningless, please let me know!  
> And of course, kudos and, most importantly, comments are really appreciated!

“We are going out! Wanna come?”

“I’m gonna practice some more. I’ll catch up with you later!” 

“Don’t push yourself too hard. Tomorrow is the day”

The day. It was a year that Lizzie and her volleyball team were waiting for that moment. She remembered that day like it was yesterday. They had a perfect season that year. They made it to the finals of the championship. And they were sure to win. But when Lizzie took the field, she immediately understood that winning wasn’t gonna be that easy. The captain of the other team was _her,_ Hope Mikaelson.

Their rivalry had started years before, in the field. Hope was a deadly attacker and Lizzie was her favourite victim. Every time the setter had the ball, Hope was ready to hit it with more and more force against Lizzie. And almost every time, she scored. And Lizzie wasn’t any less. Both of them were extremely good and soon, scoring wasn’t enough. They had to destroy each other. But it wasn’t just that. Hope was arrogant. When she scored, she shouted against the other team, looking at Lizzie with that triumphant smile the blonde  
hated so much.

The year before, her team was defeated. They could do nothing to stop Hope’s powerful spikes, and the perfection her team had reached. Lizzie could feel the failure even now, alone in _her_ gym.

But this year things were going to change. This year was the last one before college. It was her last year with her team, and they had to win. She had trained so hard, almost every day for a year, and she was ready. This time she would have won. She would have beaten Hope Mikaelson.

Lizzie served the ball which hit the right corner of the field. She smiled: Hope wouldn’t be able to catch it. She walked towards the changing rooms, satisfied. She drank some water and, after a refreshing shower, she reached her team at the bar.

“I think we can stop here for the night. Tomorrow we’ll wake up early and we’ll drive for the last six hours.” Klaus Mikaelson, Hope’s father, said.

“Whaat? No way! Tomorrow is the final, I need to rest!” Hope answered angrily.

“Honey, your dad has been driving for eight hours. We are all tired, it’s better we stop”  
Hayley, her mother, tried to convince her.

“I accepted to go on holiday with you only because you promised we could make to the final. I can’t miss it!”

“Honey, they already accepted you to college. Even if you miss this last match, nothing wrong will happen!” Klaus tried to convince her.

“Everything will happen! I need to beat her!”

“Again with that rivalry? Don’t you think it’s time to grow up?”

Hope snorted: “You don’t understand. You’ll never understand how important this is to me.  
And if I won’t make it on time, I’ll never forgive you”

And with that, Hope put on her earphones and turned her music up. 

She knew she had hurt her parents. She knew she was behaving like a spoiled brat and she wasn’t like this. But the only important thing at that moment was making it on time for the final. After that match everything was going to be fine. She would apologize to her parents and everything would go back to normal. She had all the time in the world to apologize.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax.

She was just falling asleep when the deafening noise of a car horn startled her. She didn’t even have the time to open her eyes that she felt her head hitting hard the front seat. She felt like she was falling, rolling, hitting something, she felt the seatbelt cutting her skin. She couldn’t breath, a sense of void in her stomach. Broken glass, blood, shouting. Hot. It was so hot there. Her sight became blurry. She closed her eyes.

**THE FINAL**

It was time for a showdown. Lizzie gathered her team in the middle of the changing room.

“Girls, this is our moment. We grew, we struggled, but we arrived here and I’m so proud of every single member of this team. There is only one thing left. Win this game. Together, for one last time”

Penelope, their setter, pretended to wipe a tear away, mocking their captain. Lizzie rolled her eyes. Then the two friends smiled. “On three. One, two, three…go Real!”

The team, excited and more ready than ever, entered the field, shouting and jumping, aware they had to win. Lizzie noticed immediately that something was wrong. The coach of the other team was shouting against another girl who was on the phone trying to contact who knows who. And Hope wasn’t there.

 _That’s strange_ Lizzie thought. _Lizzie, stop. Focus. It’s not the time to think about these things._ And with that she began to stretch. 

Twenty minutes later the referee gave the signal and the match started. Hope didn’t show up and apparently even her team wasn’t prepared for her absence. After ten minutes, Lizzie’s team was winning 10-5. Lizzie was at her best and the rivals, without their captain’s help seemed lost. The match ended at 3 to 1. The team shouted excited, jumped, they hugged each other, tears of joy in their eyes. 

Lizzie was happy, she was, really. But she couldn’t completely appreciate the victory. The match was good, they even struggled a little at some point. But it was nothing compared to what she was expecting. For what she was craving.

Lizzie walked towards the changing room, the other girls waiting for her. She slowed down in proximity of the other team’s room. There, the setter, _Maya, wasn’t it?_ was on the phone, waiting for someone picking up the call. She looked pissed. 

“Where the hell have you been? We lost, and it’s all your fault! Do you understand what have you don…?” then she stopped. Her face suddenly paled. She put a hand over her mouth:  
“Oh god” she whispered, leaning on the wall as if her legs couldn’t hold her up.

“Lizzie!!” Penelope yelled at her friend opening the door of the changing room. She was half naked, with a towel around her body, ready to shower. Lizzie smiled. And she quickly forgot the scene she had just witnessed. They had just won the championship after all. They had to celebrate the victory. She entered the changing room yelling and waving her arms in victory. They had made it.

**3 MONTHS LATER**

First day of college. Lizzie was out of her mind from excitement. The same was for Josie, her twin. Originally Lizzie’s dream was to get a volleyball scholarship in a more prestigious college. But then she found out, with a lot of disappointment, that Hope had _stolen_ her place. After the first fair amount of anger and a great deal of disappointment and tears, Lizzie got used to the idea of attending the same college as Josie. 

Moreover, she had found out that the college had a volleyball team. Sure, it wasn’t that famous but it was a pretty good alternative. And on top of that, Penelope had got a place in the team too. She would have played her favourite sport with her best friend. She would have been in the same college as her sister. What else could she have asked for?

She only had to meet her roommate but she was very excited about it and was sure they would become close friends in no time. She was a very solar person after all. Nothing could go wrong, right?

“Lizzie, are you coming?” her father called her, while trying to carry his daughter’s baggage helped by her wife, Caroline. The two parents were almost more excited than the daughters themselves. Lizzie smiled, shaking her head, and followed them towards the dorms.

The sight of all those guys, excited, with parents all around them, more agitated than ever, made Hope want to throw up. She closed her eyes, trying to focus only on her breath. _Please not again. Breathe, like that. You are doing good._ Her thoughts did nothing but increase her level of anxiety. She felt her throat tightening, her lungs were aching, she couldn’t breathe. She leaned against the wall, she was losing control.

She felt someone’s hands on her shoulders. “Hey, look at me” Hope opened her eyes.

“Follow my breath” Maya said, starting to breathe deeply and making sure Hope was following her. Slowly, her breath became even. She closed her eyes, resting her head on the wall behind her.

“Better?” Maya observed Hope with a concerned look. Hope nodded, grateful. Since the accident three months before, everything had changed. Hope wasn’t the confident, sometime arrogant, brilliant and compelling girl she was before.

She had become a mess. She suffered from panic attacks, she definitely drank too much and she gave up her scholarship in the most prestigious college in Virginia. 

After her parent’s death during that car accident, Hope hadn’t even touched a ball, she had refused to enter a gym. The truth was, she felt guilty. She was her that had insisted to continue their journey to arrive in time for the final. She was her that said those horrible things to her parents because “there will be time to apologize later”. And it was her fault if her father fell asleep at the wheel and drifted into the other lane. And even if it wasn’t her fault that exactly in that moment a truck was driving at full speed in that goddamn opposite line, well it felt like it was. 

The car was completely destroyed. Her parents had died on the spot. She was lucky, the doctors said. Yes, because she was in the backseat and somehow she had survived. Sure, she had scratches everywhere, she hit her head pretty bad and remained in a coma for three days. 

And when she had woken up, alone in a hospital bed, the doctors said they were sorry, they couldn’t do anything. And there Hope thought that maybe she had a broken leg and she couldn’t play volleyball for some weeks, months maybe. But then Maya had entered the room, and with puffy eyes, she had hugged her, caressing her hair repeating like a mantra she was sorry and everything was going to be okay. And in that moment she understood and Hope’s world crushed.

Maya took her hand and guided her towards the dorms. Her friend chose to go without her parents in order to help Hope through that terrible day. Hope was grateful to have such a great friend. Maya was what prevented her from going mad. She let herself guide through the long hallway of her soon-to-be new home, focusing on her breath at every step.

Lizzie stopped in front of the door of her new room. “Number 112, I’m arrived. Where are you, Jo?”

“116. It’s over there! Can I sneak into your room for a second?” Josie asked with a wink.

Lizzie smiled, took a deep breath and opened the door. The room was empty, her roommate wasn’t there yet. _Good, so I can choose the best part of the room._ She chose the part with the wardrobe slightly bigger and sat on her bed, satisfied. _Yes, it will be a great year_. In the meanwhile, her parents were putting family pictures all around the place. Lizzie observed them: in one she was hugging her sister, in another the twins were trying to pet a giraffe while their parents were holding them. 

She was trying to find a place for a third picture when suddenly the door opened.

Lizzie froze. “Hope?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Lizzie?” Hope paled instantly. She felt her legs trembling, like they weren’t able to sustain her weight. Maya squeezed her hand, trying to give her the courage to deal with that situation.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Lizzie asked, jumping from the bed and ready to fight.

“Lizzie, manners!” her mother scolded the girl “I’m Caroline and this is my husband Alaric. We are Lizzie and Josie’s parents” and then she stuck out her hand friendly. Hope looked at it with uncertainty and when Maya pushed her gently, she shook it immediately. The two adults smiled. Her stomach tightened.

“I’m Maya” the girl stepped in shaking their hands.

“Are your parents here?” Alaric asked.

“No, they are not.” Hope answered coldly, more than she intended. Alaric and Caroline didn’t seem to notice, but Lizzie was another story. She approached the girl, ready to start a fight, but Maya pulled Hope back and said: “It was a pleasure to meet you. We are going to my room now! See you!” And with that they disappeared into the hallway.

“That witch” Lizzie grunted.

“Is she the famous Hope Mikaelson? She wasn’t that bad! You said she was arrogant and spoilt” Josie teased.

“She is! And she owes me an explanation. She stole my scholarship. Why is she even here?”

“Honey, I’m sure there is a valid reason for her to be here. You’ll become close friends, I can tell! And then you’ll play volleyball together. It will be fun!”

 _Oh god_. Lizzie didn’t think about that. Not only she had to live with her for the next year, she had also to play with her. That was going to be a hell of a year.

“Knock-knock!” Penelope opened Lizzie’s door two hours later. Her parents had left and she had just finished arranging her part of the room. The other half was still empty, only a bag on the bed. Lizzie was very curious to see what was in there, but resisted the urge to open it.

“There’s a party this night. We are going, right?”

Lizzie looked at her friend. Penelope was always ready to party. And usually the same was for her. But after what happened…

“I’m not in the mood” Lizzie grunted.

“Come on! It twill be fun! Josie agrees and I have met a boy, MG, and he is really cool!” Penelope pleaded her.

“Ok, fine.” Lizzie sighed defeated but also amused by her friend’s excitement.

“Yay” Penelope smiled, throwing her arms around Lizzie and kissing her on the cheek. Lizzie hugged her laughing.

Josie, Lizzie and Penelope took two hours to get ready. All of them in Lizzie’s room; they laughed, joked, gossiped sharing clothes and make up. When they were ready, they left the room. The party was outside, a lot of people were there. The music was loud, lights on the trees, sweated bodies dancing close to each other, everything Lizzie loved.

And everything Hope hated since that day of three months before. In the middle of that crowd she felt like suffocating. She needed to drink. To drink something strong. She filled her glass with something not well defined, but pretty alcoholic. 

“How much have you had?” Maya approached with a severe expression.

“It’s the second one. I promise I’ll stop here” or at least that was what Hope hoped. She knew sometime she drank too much, but at the same time she was convinced that it was her choice. She was convinced to have everything under control. Only sometime she drank more to forget, to feel something different from pain and sorrow. She was sure she could stop whenever she wanted.

“Wanna dance?” Maya asked.

“I’ll catch you later, I finish this and I’ll come!” and then she took a sip of her drink. Maya nodded and disappeared in the crowd.

Hope looked around. Her gazed fixed on the blonde hair of a girl who was jumping to the rhythm of music. She was pretty good at it. When the girl turned around, Hope recognised her immediately: Lizzie. The blonde seemed to have seen her too, because her smile disappeared from her face at the exact moment they locked eyes together. Lizzie was walking towards the redhead she hated so much.

When Hope realised the blonde was coming towards her, took a deep breath. She finished her drink, preparing to what was coming.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Lizzie asked angrily.

“It’s a party. Everyone can participate.” Hope answered, knowing that the other girl was referring to a completely different thing.

“Don’t you dare play innocent with me. You know what I’m talking about. They gave you the scholarship. _My_ scholarship. And instead you are here. Why?”

“This is none of your business” Hope answered angrily.

“None of my business? Can you hear yourself? It was my chance to enter in an important team and you ruined everything!”

“I gave up the scholarship. It seems like you weren’t their second choice either” Hope grinned. “In fact” she continued “I made you a favour. I spared you the disappointment of discovering you aren’t so good after all”

At that point Lizzie was red with rage. She was on the verge to explode when someone held her back: Josie.

“Let’s go Lizzie. It’s not worth it.”

Lizzie let herself be carried away not before saying sarcastically: “Your parents must be proud for having a bitch as a daughter”

Those words had the same effect of a dagger in Hope’s heart. She felt like a lump in her throat, her eyes teared up. Lizzie looked at her one last time, happy to have obtained that result on her rival for whatever reason. Then she turned towards her friends and started to dance with her sister.

In the meanwhile, Hope approached the table with drinks. Her hands were trembling while she filled the glass to the brim. She drank it all in one breath and then filled it again.

Maya was dancing with Penelope and MG. They weren’t in the field. They weren’t opponents. In fact, most likely she was going to be in the same team as Lizzie and Penelope so it was time to make friends. She was jumping to the rhythm of music when she saw Lizzie and Josie returning to the dance floor.

“Your friend is such a harpy” Lizzie said.

At those words Maya froze. She had forgotten about Hope. Since the accident, Maya had always been with her friend. She was terrorized Hope could do something stupid. And now she had forgotten about her. Hope didn’t even want to go to that party. Maya had convinced her because she thought it was a good way to start to open up again. And instead she left her alone. “Sorry, I need to find her.  
See you tomorrow, good night!”

She fought her way outside the dancefloor avoiding sweating bodies and screaming guys. She walked towards the table with drinks and she hoped with all her heart her friend wasn’t there. Instead, she found her there, unsteady, drinking alcohol like it was water. 

Maya sighed sadly, took the glass from Hope’s hands who didn’t even try to resist: “It’s time to go to bed.”

Lizzie had a lot of fun. She had danced all night with her sister and her best friend. She met MG who was a really sweet guy and was pleasantly surprised by Maya. She was funny and kind, all the opposite Lizzie had imagined since she was friend with Hope. She sighed. She had to go to her room and face the redhead. 

Her mood changed in a bunch of seconds. She was tired and didn’t want to fight again that night. She breathed deeply and entered her room.

Rumors came from the bathroom. She leaned closer, realizing suddenly that it was the noise of someone who was throwing up. She made a disgusted face but decided to enter the bathroom to tease her rival. “You aren’t even able to control how much you drin..”

But when she opened the door, she saw something she wasn’t ready for.

Hope was on her knees in front of the toilet, throwing up. Maya was kneeled next to her, holding her hair and whispering softly: “Shh, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

Lizzie looked better. Hope was pale, and was sobbing uncontrollably. She was shaking and kept repeating: “I’m s-sorry. I’m s-so s-sorry”

When Maya realized someone was at the door, she looked up. She silently asked Lizzie to leave them alone. The blonde closed slowly the door, shocked by what she had just seen. Lizzie couldn’t forget the desperation in Hope’s face. She laid in bed, looking blankly at the wall. She didn’t see the other two girls coming out the bathroom. She was too tired. She fell asleep, exhausted from the night, hugging herself as if she didn’t want to feel alone.


End file.
